I always knew what EastEnders was about, but I didn't watch it. Before I started in the show, I didn't even have a TV licence. I mainly did theatre, so it was rare for people to recognise me. With soaps, people see it as reality.

I play Joey Branning: he's a cockney, a bit of a womaniser, very alpha male, he gets into fights. He's nothing like me, but now people come up to me and talk to me as Joey. They're incredibly confused because I'm quite well-spoken. I was out the other night and I could hear a group of teenagers saying, "It can't be him, it doesn't sound anything like him."

We started filming the EastEnders Christmas storylines so long ago that we were finished by early November. It was bizarre coming to work: there was the big Christmas tree up in the square, and every set was covered in tinsel and Christmas lights.

The Christmas Day script is always dramatic and it's meant to have a few surprises. We work hard to keep them a secret, but it's difficult. My on-screen dad is going to be killed on Christmas Day, and the story leaked in November. We had paparazzi clambering over gravestones while we were filming the funeral.

Last year, I was stuck in Crewe doing a pantomime and spent Christmas Day with fellow cast members in the Crewe Arms, which wasn't ideal. The EastEnders cast get two weeks off over Christmas, so everyone's excited about having a break and spending time with their families.

None of my close family is an EastEnders obsessive, but I expect we'll sit down to watch it together on Christmas Day. Even as someone who takes the show for what it is, I have to admit it's a pretty exciting episode. It's certainly more interesting than the Queen's speech.